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A pathologist who provides services to the Marion County coroner’s office had human organ samples and a half-empty vodka bottle in his car during his arrest Tuesday night on suspicion of drunken driving.

Elmo A. Griggs, 75, is a coroner’s pathologist who was arrested shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday on Ind. 67 in Morgan County after police said another motorist saw him driving erratically in his 2016 Nissan Titan pickup truck.

Marshal Bradley K. Shaw of the Brooklyn Police Department said the investigating officer noticed several labeled totes containing organic material in the back of the pickup. Shaw said a preliminary investigation showed the totes were labeled as brain and liver samples.

Griggs is a pathology vendor who provides service to the Marion County coroner's office as needed, according to a statement released Wednesday morning. He had been providing service to Marion County for six months and had worked in the state of Indiana for more than a decade, officials said.

The coroner's office statement said that Griggs was not providing services for Marion County at the time of his arrest and that the tissue found in his car did not come from any Marion County cases.

"Our pathology vendors do not remove tissue from our facility," said the coroner's office statement. "It is likely to be tissue from private autopsy cases performed by Dr. Griggs. At this time, our contract with Dr. Griggs is suspended pending further review."

Tippecanoe County Coroner Donna Avolt explained that Griggs was transporting slides and samples from his private cases done at the Tippecanoe County facility. Avolt also took exception to news reports that characterized Griggs as having "body parts."

The Tippecanoe County coroner’s office, which is a regional hub for autopsies used by other counties, is short on storage space, Avolt said. Because of this, Avolt asked other county coroners — and private practice pathologists such as Griggs — to take their slides and specimens from the Tippecanoe County offices and store them at their facilities.

This is why Griggs had the slides and specimens, Avolt said.

Up until 10 days ago, Griggs was the on-call pathologist for Tippecanoe County, Avolt said. But Avolt and the chief executive officer of Griggs’ practice had a falling out. She just contracted with a new on-call pathologist, she said.

However, she allowed Griggs to continue to use the county facilities to perform other autopsies associated with his private practice, she said.

“He’s an excellent pathologist,” she said, noting that he has contracted with the county for about 10 years.

Asked Wednesday whether Griggs still had practicing rights at the Tippecanoe County facility, Avolt paused and said he does not.

Griggs is a physician who specializes in forensic pathology, and he’s also an attorney, according to court testimony about his qualifications.

Shaw said Griggs' car was stopped when an officer saw him try to pass a semitrailer truck on the right and then make an abrupt stop in the middle of the road.

According to court documents, Griggs failed all field sobriety tests that were given. A search of his car led to the discovery of a bottle of Stolichnaya vodka that was more than half empty. Police also found a green Yeti tumbler containing liquid believed to be vodka.

After Griggs' arrest, his blood was drawn to determine his blood alcohol content, and he was booked into the Morgan County Jail, Shaw said. Shaw said the Morgan County coroner's office was called to make sure the tissue samples that Griggs was transporting got to the appropriate people safely.

Morgan County Coroner Annette Rohlman said she could not comment on the final destination of the samples but said the manner in which Griggs was transporting them was appropriate for pathology work in the state of Indiana.

On the Facebook post of this story shared on IndyStar's Facebook page, a woman named Kathleen Kay Griggs identified herself as Griggs' wife and made a comment.

She said that she owns an autopsy company and that Griggs was transporting tissue specimens on behalf of the company.

She also wrote that Griggs had a bad day and had a couple of drinks before driving home. IndyStar has reached out to her for more information.

Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at (317) 444-6138 or email him at justin.mack@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack.